Winter is back after a mild December and January. February has proven to be like winter is supposed to be – a lot more snow. Of course, the skiers love it, but I don’t ski, and I’m ready for Spring. Currently our moisture content is at 86% of average. Wolf Creek Ski Area has 105 inches at the summit and they received 27 inches in a recent storm.
We will soon start to see Spring Break skiers coming to town from Texas and Oklahoma. The peak week will be March 10th to 17th. March is the busiest month of the winter for us, and it is a critical time for our local economy.
The Spring Break for schools in Pagosa starts at the end of March. My wife is a teacher, and we are headed to North Carolina for a week to visit my daughter, Heather, and her husband, John, who is training to go into the Green Berets at Fort Bragg.
It is my understanding Walmart is having a show-and-tell March 8th from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. to discuss their plans. It is open to the public. I am told that Walmart has not yet purchased the property in question, but they have it under contract contingent on getting approved by the Town of Pagosa Springs. They still need to submit plans and jump through the necessary hoops with the Planning Department. This may take three or four months to complete. Most likely, if Walmart comes to town, it would not open till next year. Even though the community as a whole is divided on this issue, the voters that live within the town limits voted in favor of a big-box by a 2-to-1 margin two years ago.
As far as real estate goes, February was not as robust as January. We are still up 40% as a whole, but home sales are up 12% vs. 30% for January. The biggest positive again is the reduction of the number of repos available. There are still quite a few in the pipeline, but they are moving fast. If you would like to receive my repo sheets updated on a weekly basis, email me and ask for it.
When you look at this month’s stats, you’ll notice some pretty wild changes in median sold prices. The median price for vacant land is up 99% for example. I’d like to note that it is still very early in the year, and this number is a result of the type of land sold – not a price increase for individual pieces of land. Bigger pieces of land have sold so far this year, and that moves the median price upward.
Mortgage rates with zero points are still great at 4% for a 30-year, 3.875% for a 20-year, and 3.375% for a 15-year. According to this morning’s Durango Herald, this is the best time since 1971 for home affordability.
One other item to report is I have several new listings that will be hitting the market soon. Among them are several new homes and four new ranches. One example is 169 Tiffany, a bank repo which was just listed today. It’s a 4-bedroom, 2.5-bath with 2576 square feet on 4.7 acres. This beautiful horse property has incredible mountain views. It is nicely landscaped with several outbuildings and a storage shed. At $194,900, it may not last long. There are several more values coming down the pipe, so keep an eye on my website, ISellPagosa.com
GRI, CRS
2011 & 2014 Realtor of the Year
Phone (970) 731-4065
Fax (970) 731-4068
Cell (970) 946-3856
Email: [email protected]
